Rocky Mountain Highs (a non-Disney Trip Report) - COMPLETE 2/17

[pkondz]

We took our time coming down off of our mountain high

Because if you don't, you'd careen off a cliff and this TR would be much shorter.

All in all, it’s the prettiest dam site on the Pikes Peak Highway.

I'll give you that one. Beautiful doesn't seem to be a big enough word for it.

Between free hotel breakfasts and PB&J lunches, this helps extend the budget so we can make the trips last a little longer and hopefully see more sights along the way.

Always go with extending the trip.

The downside, of course, is that we all get sick of PB&J after a while. But that wasn’t an issue yet.

Well, okay. There's that.

As you all know, in the social media age it’s very important to capture those perfect family photos so everyone will be convinced that your family is always happy, always smiling, always beautiful and never, ever has any issues concerning temper tantrums, cranky exhausted parents, cranky exhausted babies, and/or flatulence.

I don't understand. My family is always like that. Yours isn't?

Huh.

We were able to corral Baby Drew long enough to get him to pose as well.

Which brings up the obvious question....


How???

We kept our sunglasses on so you wouldn’t see the bags under our eyes.

"Quick! Pretend like you're having a nice vacation!"

And now, here’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of those perfect family photos.

Perfect!

Christmas card?

Yes. I would think so.

This is Balanced Rock, near the south entrance.

Reminds me of Radiator Springs.
And without reading back, I'm sure I'm not the only one to say so.

Rule #1 of Parenting: Never, ever wake a sleeping baby.

Oh, man. You're not kiddin!

Rule #2: Carry Ny-Quil with you.

Oh? Is that more effective than a rag soaked in gasoline?

Absolutely stunning!
And there's just too many pictures where I could say the same thing!

They were a brownish color, but I sold them as looking like good “hiking shoes”.

Good child psychology there.
I can't believe he bought it.

Their specialty is—get this—pizza.

What! Shocked!

After you eat the pizza, you’re supposed to take the crust and drizzle honey on it as an after-dinner treat.

That's... different.
Especially if you get a piece that still has pizza sauce on it.

As an added bonus, we were meeting a DIS friend here! Jill (@jedijill )

Lucky! Wish I'd known, I would've told you to say hi for me!

He walked through the “tunnel” about 20 or 30 or 80 times.

I was expecting a Chicago-style pie,

And from the description, so was I.

My kids would have just left it on the plate by itself.

That's a universal child trait, I believe.

We did not successfully fight off altitude sickness.

Aw. Poor Scotty.
Good thing you're not taking him up to high altitudes again!


Oh.

I was determined to beat the I-25 traffic this time, so Julie and I were up and getting ready by 5:30 a.m.

5:30??? You do know it's vacation and there's no rope drop, right?
Wouldn't the traffic have eased off by mid-morning or so?

we actually managed to have breakfast and be on the road by 6:45 a.m. This is a minor miracle with four kids.

Impressive.

Traffic on I-25 was actually moving. Even better, it was moving at the speed limit! I almost stopped to buy lottery tickets right then and there.

And that's exactly why I-25 is always jammed. It moves great. Someone gets excited, figures it's their lucky day and stops to buy lottery tickets... thus causing a traffic jam.

Self fulfilling prophecy.

The only driver I saw who didn’t have any trouble with the fog was, of course, Batman.

Well, of course. That's to be expected.

The driver was wearing a suit and tie, so I guess technically it was Bruce Wayne.

Shhh!!! Don't blow his cover!

My Toyota Sienna blew the Batmobile’s doors off.

But then again, he didn't kick in the afterburner, did he?

Eventually, you emerge into the town of Estes Park and are greeted with this:

Oh, man. I said I wouldn't comment anymore, but.... just overwhelmingly gorgeous!
As are so many of the pictures that followed this one.
Almost doesn't seem real.

it appeared to me that “celebration events” = “lectures”. So, um, we skipped them.

Probably a good call.

Anyway, the park has been around for 100 years.

I wonder how many people think that the terrain has only been there for 100 years?

This includes several miles above the tree line at 11,500 feet to a high point of 12,183 feet. It’s no problem as long as there is no one in your party suffering from altitude sickness.

Uh, oh.

The President had announced earlier in the year that the U.S. would be offering a program this year that gave every 4th-grade child in America a free annual pass, in order to encourage kids to visit these national treasures. Great idea! Unfortunately, we found out later that the passes would only be good during the school year and not, say, during the summer when people with kids actually travel.

One of those "looks good on paper" deals.

In the clear, cool air, we could see for miles.

The Who?

Pro Tip: in National Parks, if you suddenly see several cars parked on the shoulder, the chances are very good that you’re about to see some wildlife. And some idiots trying to get too close to wild animals so they can take selfies with them. Wanna know how I got these scars?

By telling people to get back in their vehicles?

For added fun, I’d be carrying 30 lbs. of baby in a backpack.

Oh, sure. If you're going to torture yourself, might as well go all in.

Future Facebook profile photo:

Just how happy is she going to be knowing (if she finds out) that you posted that?

I have to admit, I ran out of ways to describe how glorious the views were up here.

And I completely understand.

So if you’re ever planning a trip here, you only get a limited window to drive the length of Trail Ridge Road. And you won't be able to do that if you're depending on the government's free annual pass program. But I'm not bitter about that.

Glad to hear you're not bitter about that! Way to take the high road!
(See what I did there?)

 

[Steppesister]

Well, as long as you have your priorities in place.

Don't I always?

They're fun to collect. At least it seems like they are. I think they have 10 or 12 but I wish we'd pushed them to collect them earlier. The Hawaii badges would have been cool to have.

Yes, they totally would have been. Better book an Aulani stay ASAP!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

So this chapter should appeal to my sense of order, then?

And your meticulous nature.

Being East Coasters y’all get away with stuff like that there…
It’ tougher for the folks headed our direction.

Yeah, it's definitely easier going west than east. I'm just glad something worked in our favor for once.

Missed the opportune moment did ya’?

We were afraid we'd get lost in the fog.

Or some other exec with more money than sense.

No shortage of those, is there?

Just trying to survive long enough to become the villain.

+1

Your van must have had the same underpinnings as Barry’s Van of Doom.
(Either that or Batman’s tricycle there was nothing more than mere rainbows and glitter)

I made a few special modifications myself.

Rather the dramatic welcome mat…

It doesn't suck, does it?

Keep to the code…

They're more like guidelines, anyway.

Wait a sec, I think I best read that again….

Yeah…
That’s what I though you said.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, at least that's a good plan.
It certainly proved its worth last time.

I won't bore everyone with the math again, but it was a worthy investment.

Wow…

Yeah, that says it all.

Then it ought’a be called High’s Peak.

Sorry… figured that one inexcusable groaner just demanded to be countered by an even more unspeakable one.

Hang on, I think I have something for you here...ah, here it is.

Oooooo… Dramatic…

So did y’all hear the inspiring music in the background as well?
(Myself, I always love when NFL Films uses the old sea-shanty: “Drunken sailor”, as the background music during the amazing comeback clips.)

It's almost impossible not to hear inspiring music in the background. Did you know they actually put a couple of albums together? I may or may not have some songs on my iPod (including Drunken sailor).

“It’s funny because the selfie taker gets dead”
(Ok, I’m paraphrasing a might here, but the quote still applies)

+1

Thin air effecting your judgment here?
Oh wait… that implies a quality I’ ain’t so certain you actually possess.

Hey dad, I'll trade you this yummy doorstop for that crummy ol' Danish of yours.

Oh no…
I live for photos of composite organisms that arise from algae or cyanobacteria (or both) living among filaments of a fungus in a symbiotic relationship.

Well, that makes one of us!

OK, you got me…
Those are much better.

Mountains > algae. Got it.

Enjoying crappy lunches at some of the world’s most stunning locations for better than a decade.
(Of course, Holy Cheetos raise everything to new heights… approximately 11500 ft. in this instance).

PB&J tastes better in National Parks. Fact.

This could be epic.

I hope it's not disappointing.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Cool, surprise! Dis-friends rock!

Yes, they do! This was pretty awesome.

You opened it, right? They'd never know...

Well, they were kinda there...

Completely understandable.

What can I say? We're pigs.

It isn't a Captain_Oblivious TR without dam jokes.

Dam right.

And who doesn't like PB&J?????

Well...ask us again in about 5 days.

Well, yeah, I guess there's that. But come on, it still isn't that bad!

It's not bad for a little while. And it helps pay the bills.

And those complete strangers 50 feet away are showing everyone on their social media accounts that your family is completely dysfunctional having temper tantrums, cranky exhausted parents, cranky exhausted babies and -no or, just and- flatulence.

Crap! The truth is out! Hey, pull my finger.

Looks like a good candidate!

You made a good call here. I don't know what you missed out on, but...

Hiking amongst rocks in hot weather. Don't worry, we'll do plenty of that later on.

Abiding by this rule is always top priority!

Hey, as long as you're happy, walk through there as many times as you want!!!

When it comes to pizza, always order too much. It will always make a good cold snack later if you can't eat it all.

Good rule. It's a little harder when you're on the go and don't have an easy place to store it, though. In any case, it worked out that we all had plenty of room for dessert.

I'm not sure about this one. But then again, I'm not really crazy about honey.

I think it sounded better than it actually was.

YES! You can never go wrong with chocolate chip cookies and ice cream!!!! Way to go, Jill!!!

Winner!

Well, yeah, you don't want to give the ice cream time to melt!

Hey, we all have our priorities.

Oh no. That sucks.

Yes. Yes, it did.

Minor???

I guess we have high expectations.

But then by the time you bought your ticket and returned to the highway, traffic will have slowed by about 30mph.

Truth. Better not to risk it.

What doors?

Well, I must have already blown them off.

Yeah, because who isn't ready for the altitude?

Besides Scotty? No one, we're fine.

Seriously? Just when you think our federal government actually went and did something good and worthwhile...

Actually, I may have spoken too soon. Looks like we can get one to use next summer. So it turns out they put some common sense into it after all.

You must have really pissed that squirrel off.

On a related note, we saw traffic pulled to the side of the road in Smoky Mountain National Park last summer. And there were probably about 40 people standing around under a tree looking up... at a black bear!!!! You know, it's kind of cool to see a bear, but don't they always warn you against cornering a wild animal??? The way I saw it, that bear only had 1 way out and it was through a whole bunch of idiots.

I'd love to see a bear in the wild, but preferably from the safety of my car. Or across a river. Or both.

I hear Rocky music playing in the background...

I don't know about you, but I believe I can do just about anything when listening to Rocky music. Also, I really want to hit somebody.

That's the look you get for making her hike uphill through thin air to see tundra moss.

By the way... why haven't I seen any photographic evidence of a snowball fight while you were up there at those higher altitudes? Surely, someone got tagged upside the head with a snowball at some point????

There was snow. Somebody started the snowball fight, because, hey, snow in June. I ain't saying who.

Oh, the hits to your wallet came when you booked the trip.

And when I paid for lawn mowing, babysitting and snow shoveling.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Because if you don't, you'd careen off a cliff and this TR would be much shorter.

And we wouldn't want that, would we?

Would we????

(crickets)

I'll give you that one. Beautiful doesn't seem to be a big enough word for it.

How about splendiferous?

Always go with extending the trip.

Well, sure. Otherwise I have to go back to work!

Well, okay. There's that.

So we just need to break it up once in a while.

I don't understand. My family is always like that. Yours isn't?

Huh.

I admit it. The flatulence is all me. Too much Taco Bell, I guess.

Which brings up the obvious question....


How???

Taser.

"Quick! Pretend like you're having a nice vacation!"

Hey, you've done this once or twice, huh?

Perfect!

Well, you can't say we aren't honest.

Yes. I would think so.

Reminds me of Radiator Springs.
And without reading back, I'm sure I'm not the only one to say so.

Actually, you are. These DIS people need to step up their game.

Oh, man. You're not kiddin!

Learned that one the hard way.

Oh? Is that more effective than a rag soaked in gasoline?

Well, so I've heard.

Absolutely stunning!
And there's just too many pictures where I could say the same thing!

It was hard to get a bad photo in Colorado!

Good child psychology there.
I can't believe he bought it.

More parenting rules: whatever works.

What! Shocked!

I know, right? Hope you were sitting down.

That's... different.
Especially if you get a piece that still has pizza sauce on it.

Yeah, that was one of the main problems.

Lucky! Wish I'd known, I would've told you to say hi for me!

Hey @jedijill , pkondz says hi!

And from the description, so was I.

When you say it's a 5-lb. pizza, I want 5 lbs. of pizza! No idea what that is in Canadian weight.

That's a universal child trait, I believe.

Certainly with ours.

Aw. Poor Scotty.
Good thing you're not taking him up to high altitudes again!


Oh.

5:30??? You do know it's vacation and there's no rope drop, right?
Wouldn't the traffic have eased off by mid-morning or so?

Too much ground to cover! And rope drop works in the real world, too.

Impressive.

And that's exactly why I-25 is always jammed. It moves great. Someone gets excited, figures it's their lucky day and stops to buy lottery tickets... thus causing a traffic jam.

Self fulfilling prophecy.

Whoa, sounds like we dodged a bullet there.

Well, of course. That's to be expected.

Batman's a punk. There, I said it.

But then again, he didn't kick in the afterburner, did he?

Are you saying he took it easy on me?

Oh, man. I said I wouldn't comment anymore, but.... just overwhelmingly gorgeous!
As are so many of the pictures that followed this one.
Almost doesn't seem real.

This park is well worth the visit. Just gorgeous in every direction!

Probably a good call.

I wonder how many people think that the terrain has only been there for 100 years?

I shudder to think at the answer.

One of those "looks good on paper" deals.

Well, as it turns out, I had it wrong. I looked it up again and they added more details saying it's good through next summer. So I will give props to the government on that one for getting it right.

The Who?

Who? Who? What are you, an owl? (there's a movie I haven't quoted before)

By telling people to get back in their vehicles?

You weren't around for my movie quote games in previous TR's, were you?

Oh, sure. If you're going to torture yourself, might as well go all in.

We don't do half measures in this family.

Just how happy is she going to be knowing (if she finds out) that you posted that?

She laughed. Thank goodness my kids have a sense of humor, or I'd be in real trouble.

And I completely understand.

Glad to hear you're not bitter about that! Way to take the high road!
(See what I did there?)

Nicely done!

And as it turns out, I had no reason to be bitter after all. Serves me right.

 

[Flossbolna]

Well, they were kinda there...

I guess Drew is not old enough to get to play with his pin yet anyway - you could just be his pin's caretaker for the moment. ;-) I have to admit that I at first had only three pins in my hand and then I realized that you have four kids now!!

 

[pkondz]

And we wouldn't want that, would we?

Would we????

(crickets)

I'm not sayin' a thing.
Not a thing.

How about splendiferous?

Oh, man! I use that all the time!

I admit it. The flatulence is all me. Too much Taco Bell, I guess.

Well, since we're being honest, I'll admit it too.
In our family, the flatulence is all DW.

Taser.

It was hard to get a bad photo in Colorado!

I believe you!

When you say it's a 5-lb. pizza, I want 5 lbs. of pizza! No idea what that is in Canadian weight.

Oh, there's a formula for that.
Take the weight in pounds, double it, add six, divide the total by two then subtract three.

Batman's a punk. There, I said it.

Don't come crying to me if you wake up one night and he's standing over you.

Are you saying he took it easy on me?

No, I'm saying he's forgetful.

Who? Who? What are you, an owl? (there's a movie I haven't quoted before)

Had to Google that one... and I saw that movie!

You weren't around for my movie quote games in previous TR's, were you?

Sorry to say that I was not.

She laughed. Thank goodness my kids have a sense of humor, or I'd be in real trouble.

Phew, that's good.
In my upcoming TR, you'll see that Kay also has a good sense of humour.
I'll go out on a limb and say that you've never seen a photo like one I'll post (eventually... I think it happened on day four or five.)

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

I made a few special modifications myself.

So it was fast enough for you, and could outrun anything then.
Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, we're talking about the big Corellian tricycles now.

Hang on, I think I have something for you here...ah, here it is.

Ahhhh...
Good to see my old friend there.

It's almost impossible not to hear inspiring music in the background. Did you know they actually put a couple of albums together? I may or may not have some songs on my iPod (including Drunken sailor).

I will have to look into that.
That's the kind of thing that might help lift my spirits a might.
And that'd be rather welcome.

Hey dad, I'll trade you this yummy doorstop for that crummy ol' Danish of yours.

I hope it's not disappointing.

Ok, so we'll adjust it down a mite from epic to amusing.
Still lookin' forward to the story.

Actually, I may have spoken too soon. Looks like we can get one to use next summer. So it turns out they put some common sense into it after all.

I was going to ask you about that after running across some info on it.
I don't have anyone in the 4th so it does me no good but for those that do...

So...
What's the tentative plan for making prodigious use of said pass come next summer?

Somebody started the snowball fight, because, hey, snow in June. I ain't saying who.

I'm Shocked... SHOCKED, I tell you.
to find out that a snowball fight might have broken out in this establishment...
errr... I mean, TR.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

We got past downtown Denver and headed north. Traffic was already starting to back up in the southbound direction, so we were thankful to be heading away. We figured we’d have a nice, easy drive for an hour or so with the majestic Rocky Mountains keeping us company to the west.

Sounds good in theory..............

The driver was wearing a suit and tie, so I guess technically it was Bruce Wayne.

I revved the engine. And yes, when the light turned green, I floored it. My Toyota Sienna blew the Batmobile’s doors off.

He was either very impressed.........or laughing too hard to push the gas pedal.............

Rt. 34 is a beautiful drive. A portion of it meanders along a river through Big Thompson Canyon, providing gorgeous mountain scenery all around as you drive. Eventually, you emerge into the town of Estes Park and are greeted with this:

You could do worse!

Looking through the calendar, it appeared to me that “celebration events” = “lectures”. So, um, we skipped them.

Good Call!

The President had announced earlier in the year that the U.S. would be offering a program this year that gave every 4th-grade child in America a free annual pass, in order to encourage kids to visit these national treasures. Great idea! Unfortunately, we found out later that the passes would only be good during the school year and not, say, during the summer when people with kids actually travel. So we had to fork out the $80.

Sounds about right.............

I could say this for a lot of your other pictures too, but...........GORGEOUS!

But it’s not without its rewards. After all, you get to see lichen, a sort of algae/moss growth on the rocks.

Not impressed? Fine. Let’s just enjoy the views, then. And some family photos.

Who wouldn't LIKE-n................lichen???

I have to admit, I ran out of ways to describe how glorious the views were up here.

Totally understood!

 

[Steppesister]

Just wanted to let you know I've been thinking of Sarah. I hope she's turned the corner and feeling a lot better now.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I guess Drew is not old enough to get to play with his pin yet anyway - you could just be his pin's caretaker for the moment. ;-) I have to admit that I at first had only three pins in my hand and then I realized that you have four kids now!!

Honestly, I never expected you to get one for Drew! I was only thinking of the older three as well. Some father I am!

I'm not sayin' a thing.
Not a thing.

Oh, man! I use that all the time!

Hey, great minds!

....or something.

Well, since we're being honest, I'll admit it too.
In our family, the flatulence is all DW.

Drives you crazy, doesn't it? Can't take her anywhere.

Oh, there's a formula for that.
Take the weight in pounds, double it, add six, divide the total by two then subtract three.

Now are those numbers in English units or metric?

Don't come crying to me if you wake up one night and he's standing over you.

There's one guy I don't want to make angry.

No, I'm saying he's forgetful.

Good thing for me.

Had to Google that one... and I saw that movie!

I don't know why I remember these things. I could probably have cured cancer or something if I hadn't wasted so many brain cells on movie quotes.

Sorry to say that I was not.

They could get really competitive. It was amazing, really, since I didn't even promise any prizes.

Phew, that's good.
In my upcoming TR, you'll see that Kay also has a good sense of humour.
I'll go out on a limb and say that you've never seen a photo like one I'll post (eventually... I think it happened on day four or five.)

I can't wait to see it!

So it was fast enough for you, and could outrun anything then.
Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, we're talking about the big Corellian tricycles now.

+1

Did it do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs?

Ahhhh...
Good to see my old friend there.

It was nice to finally be able to turn the tables!

I will have to look into that.
That's the kind of thing that might help lift my spirits a might.
And that'd be rather welcome.

At the very least, the music will inspire you to hit somebody. Which can be therapeutic.

Yep, that's the one.

Ok, so we'll adjust it down a mite from epic to amusing.
Still lookin' forward to the story.

If I ever get a chance to write it up.

I was going to ask you about that after running across some info on it.
I don't have anyone in the 4th so it does me no good but for those that do...

So...
What's the tentative plan for making prodigious use of said pass come next summer?

Well, we've seen a lot of the spectacular west, so now we need to catch up on the flat, boring states in the middle. I saved the Black Hills for a highlight....

I'm Shocked... SHOCKED, I tell you.
to find out that a snowball fight might have broken out in this establishment...
errr... I mean, TR.

I know, right? So unpredictable.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Sounds good in theory..............

A lot of our stories start that way.

He was either very impressed.........or laughing too hard to push the gas pedal.............

In my mind, it's the former.

You could do worse!

And we have!

Good Call!

Sounds about right.............

Well, I think I spoke a little too soon. Looks like next summer could work.

I could say this for a lot of your other pictures too, but...........GORGEOUS!

Thanks! I'd take credit for the scenery, but really, we just point the camera and click.

Who wouldn't LIKE-n................lichen???

Totally understood!

If you haven't seen Colorado yet, what are you waiting for?

Just wanted to let you know I've been thinking of Sarah. I hope she's turned the corner and feeling a lot better now.

Thanks for thinking of her, Liesa. I think we're through the woods at this point. She hasn't had an attack that bad in a while, and it was basically a perfect storm. She has asthma due to her allergies (a gift from me and my crappy genes), and we've all been struggling with a cold over the weekend. Hers turned into a barky cough/bronchitis type thing. I took the older boys out golfing on Sunday and Sarah went to play tennis with her grandfather. She had fun, but all that exertion combined with the above really compromised her breathing.

She got a neb treatment and steroid at the urgent care clinic, and a prescription for steroid and an antibiotic. We gave her another neb treatment about 3:00 in the morning. Still, she slept most of the night, and one doctor told us that if she's sleeping, she's getting enough oxygen. She seems better now.

But, no field hockey practice for her this week.

 

[Lynne G]

I'm glad to hear Sarah is doing better. My DS has the exact same thing, since age 3, thanks to his Dad. We've been calling him Darth Vader every fall and spring. It's why we have no flowers in our house, and have to be careful around the holidays when people bring floral into stores and malls. At almost 18, you'd think he'd outgrow it, but nope.

Ready for another installment.

 

[Leshaface]

Lunch, if you’re not familiar with our road trips, consists of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. This is the primary menu item because it’s portable, it’s cheap, and you can generally make it last several days even in a hot car

I actually like warm PB&J. I'm pretty sure i'd fit in with your family vacay's pretty well

ever has any issues concerning temper tantrums, cranky exhausted parents, cranky exhausted babies, and/or flatulence

Yeah, where are those photos??

So this is what it looks like to get a family of 6 together for a shot. Woah!

Christmas card?

Rule #1 of Parenting: Never, ever wake a sleeping baby.

Oh my how true is this. I never fully understood this until I became a parent. When DS was 2 months we took him to a wedding and one of DM's friends was there and was trying desperately to hold him while he was sleeping claiming that he'll stay asleep in her arms cause she's 'good look that'. How embarrassing for her when as soon as he was in her arms, he started screaming. Funny! And bad for me

Wow that is gorgeous!

We found one pair of shoes in Scotty’s size on the clearance shelf, but he didn’t like them.

Ugh! I don't want DS to ever have an opinion!

After you eat the pizza, you’re supposed to take the crust and drizzle honey on it as an after-dinner treat.

That's different! I'd be down to try that.

As an added bonus, we were meeting a DIS friend here! Jill (@jedijill ),

Yay Jill! She's awesome. I got to meet her at Alison's 50th birthday party, where she made me feel like a loser cause she didn't know we had been FB friends for a while already I'll never let her live that down, right @jedijill

I don’t know about everyone else, but I think we all could have eaten more. I was expecting a Chicago-style pie, big and thick and overflowing with ingredients, but instead it was more like a normal pizza inside the rolled crust. It was good pizza. We just should have ordered a little more.

We also drizzled honey on the dough just like they told us to. And...it was ok. Not the greatest food ever, but certainly not a bad way to eat pizza crust. My kids would have just left it on the plate by itself.

Too bad the place was just eh.

Thankfully, Jill came through for us and ordered a plate of six giant choclate-chip cookies covered in ice cream.

Thank goodness for dessert! Can never go wrong with butter, sugar and chocolate chips!

We did not successfully fight off altitude sickness. Most everyone was fine, but on the way back, Scotty started complaining that he was tired and didn't feel good. We tried to give him some water and get him back to the room to go to sleep, hoping that would help him recover by morning. But unfortunately, not more than 5 minutes after being put down to bed, he was up again, and in the bathroom, hunched over the sink.

Ugh, poor Scotty. I've heard many people can get really sick. I'd love to visit, but I just KNOW i'd be one of those people to get extremely sick. Was everyone else doing okay?

That is a sick car. But how dangerous if you were in a wreck

The President had announced earlier in the year that the U.S. would be offering a program this year that gave every 4th-grade child in America a free annual pass, in order to encourage kids to visit these national treasures.

I heard about this! But why only 4th graders??

This is adorable.

[NFL Films Voice] Frozen Tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park [/NFL Films Voice]

This is way too cool!

Does Drew do well in the backpack?

Didn't know Lincoln Logs were still around.

 

[jedijill]

@Leshaface You are never going to let me live that down are you?

Jill in CO

 

[pkondz]

Hey, great minds!

....or something.

or something.

Now are those numbers in English units or metric?

Correct!

I don't know why I remember these things. I could probably have cured cancer or something if I hadn't wasted so many brain cells on movie quotes.

 

[cj9200]

Glad she is feeling better. Sucks when your kids are sick.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm glad to hear Sarah is doing better. My DS has the exact same thing, since age 3, thanks to his Dad. We've been calling him Darth Vader every fall and spring. It's why we have no flowers in our house, and have to be careful around the holidays when people bring floral into stores and malls. At almost 18, you'd think he'd outgrow it, but nope.

Yeah, I have the crappy genes in our family. I was tested for almost 50 different allergens when I was in 3rd grade and reacted to every single one! Dust, mold, pets, you name it. Thank goodness for modern medicine or I might not be here!

Ready for another installment.

I'll do what I can!

I actually like warm PB&J. I'm pretty sure i'd fit in with your family vacay's pretty well

Well, what are you waiting for? Come on along!

Yeah, where are those photos??

Keep reading...

So this is what it looks like to get a family of 6 together for a shot. Woah!

It's definitely an ordeal. Then you have to sit for like 20 pictures hoping to get one good one.

Oh my how true is this. I never fully understood this until I became a parent. When DS was 2 months we took him to a wedding and one of DM's friends was there and was trying desperately to hold him while he was sleeping claiming that he'll stay asleep in her arms cause she's 'good look that'. How embarrassing for her when as soon as he was in her arms, he started screaming. Funny! And bad for me

Ugh. I like it when it's someone else's kid, so you can hand him/her off.

Wow that is gorgeous!

Yeah, she is. Oh, I mean, the scenery is nice, too.

Ugh! I don't want DS to ever have an opinion!

Yeah...about that...

That's different! I'd be down to try that.

When in Denver....

Yay Jill! She's awesome. I got to meet her at Alison's 50th birthday party, where she made me feel like a loser cause she didn't know we had been FB friends for a while already I'll never let her live that down, right @jedijill

Too bad the place was just eh.

It just didn't jive with my expectations. Knowing what I know now about the pizza, I'd probably like it better the next time.

Thank goodness for dessert! Can never go wrong with butter, sugar and chocolate chips!

Truth. Another rule of life.

Ugh, poor Scotty. I've heard many people can get really sick. I'd love to visit, but I just KNOW i'd be one of those people to get extremely sick. Was everyone else doing okay?

Yeah, everyone else was fine. I think Scotty didn't drink enough water. Hydration is really important.

That is a sick car. But how dangerous if you were in a wreck

I'm guessing practicality wasn't the overriding priority with that one.

I heard about this! But why only 4th graders??

Ask the government.

This is adorable.

Aw, thanks!

This is way too cool!

We'll see more later!

Does Drew do well in the backpack?

He did great! I would mess around with him some so he didn't get too bored. He seemed to like changing scenery. I would run him into leaves and stuff and he would laugh at that. And I taught him how to "ambush" the other kids on the trail, too.

Didn't know Lincoln Logs were still around.

I knew they were good for something!

@Leshaface You are never going to let me live that down are you?

Sounds like a good story to me!

or something.

I figured that was it.

Correct!

Glad we cleared that up!

Glad she is feeling better. Sucks when your kids are sick.

Thanks, CJ. Indeed it does.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

What new devilry is this?